Storage-battery plate and process of forming the same.



F. ENGEL. STORAGE BATTERY PLATE AND PROCESS OF FQRMING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 20, 1909.

Patented July 11,- 1916.

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F. ENGEL. STORAGEBATTERY PLATE AND PROCESS 0F FORM|NG THE SAME.

APPLICAHON FILED FEB. 20. 1909.

Patented July 11, 1916.

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Ma er/Z02:

F. ENGEL.

' STORAGE BATTE RY PLATE AND PROCESS OF FORMING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED 8.1011909.

1,190,989. Patented J-u1y11,1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

, rmx ENGEL, or BUFFALO, new YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY 7 or NIAGARA FALLS, new YORK, A CORPORATION or UNITED; STATES, PATENT OFFICE.

I LIGHT & HEAT CORPORATION,

" NEW YORK.

MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO U. S.

s'ronacn-narramr PLATE AND rnocnss or ronmmc THE same.

Specification Of Letters Patent.

Patented July 11, 1916.

Original application filed Rdvember 14, 1907, Serial No. 402,164. Divided and this application filed February 20, 1909. Serial No; 479,070.

To all whom it may concern. Be it known that IyF RANK ENG-EL, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Buffalo, in the county of Erie and.- State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Storage-Battery Plate and Proces of Forming the Same, of which the following is a specification.

. This application is a division of the one filed by me on the 14th day of November, 1907, Serial Number 402,164.

The object of my invention as herein claimed is to produce a plate having great .density,

uniformity of configuration and regularity and accuracy of formation, uniform consistency, smoothness ofsurface, and increased'stiifness and mechanical strength.

. Another object is to produce a configuration which will protectthe center core from electrochemical action and growth.

a large contact area,

- In the preferred form of my plate a number of parallel rows of pro ections or r bs are formed upon its faces between wh1ch rows are reinforcing bars, these reinforcing bars being located at rather close intervals,

and. the ribs and bars being integral. The ribs greatly increase the contact area and the reinforcing bars give the plate increased stillness.

broadly considered contemplates sub ect1ng a blank to a swaging or kneading action to increase the density of the late and to produce the desired surface con guration tov increase the contact area.

The way in which I prefer to practice my process is hereinafter more particularly described. v

The product itself and a suitable form of machine for obtaining it are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a blank from whiph the plate may be formed. Fig.

My process "2 is a face view of a plate showing one of the various forms of outline which the finished plate may assume. This figure also indicates the preferred arrangement of the Fig. 3 is a greatly enlarged section of the plate taken transversely of the projections or ribs. Fig.

prevents unequal plan and end views respectively of a machine suitable for practising my process. Figs.- 10 and 11 aredetail views on avlarger scale of the formers employed in said machine.

The machine is shown and described in my aforesaid application filedNovember 14, 1907, Serial Number 402164..

I willv first describe the plate in its preferred form as-shown in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive. .The blank 20 illustrated in Fig. 1 may be of any suitable .outline and consists of lead or, other suitable material. The finished plateshown in'Figs. 2 to 6 has a number of parallel rows of fins or ribs 21 pro- ]ecting from the core 22. These ribs are formed on both sides of the core and are arranged parallel to each other with a space between them at the sides, the space being tion they are supplemented by a marginal.

As shown in Fig. 5, the extend at their to the bars, at

flange or frame 24. ribs, in their preferred form, full height to a point close which point they dropv sharply down toward the bars instead of sloping gradually. This moreases the contact area of the ribs. The

stiffening bars have substantially vertical sides as shown in Fig; 5 which makes it possible to place the bars close togetherand at the same time gives further increase to the contact area of the ribs.

It is desirable that the plate be symmetrical on the two sides w1th a rib on one side directly opposlte to a rib on the other and a cross bar on one side directly opposite to a cross bar Onthe other. The bottom of the grooves or channels between the ribs are preferably substantially V shaped as shown in Fig. 3. The oxid so forms upon this \l shaped bottom that it does not eat into the core appreciably as would be the case if the bottom were flat.

The plate which I have descr bed above I produce by a kneading or swaging process as distinguished from a cuttlngor spinning process. By kneading the plate into shape I densify the metal and produce an accurate configuration and a rigid structure. My process broadly considered contemplates applying pressure to a blank to produce the plate. I preferably apply pressure to both sides of the blank simultaneously so that the blank is squeezed and compressed. Parts of the blank are pressed inwardly and thereby other parts are forced outwardly, and thus the ribs which I have described above are produced. The front edge of the ribs protrude beyond the original surface of the blank and the grooves between the ribs extend back therefrom. Accordingly ribs are formed which have large contact area.

The pressure is applied to the blank and the ribs are formed by a tool, die or former having thin tapered projecting edges between which the lead of the blank rises to form the ribs. The angle at which the pressure is applied is substantially normal to the blank surface. This insures the compacting and densifying of the lead without disrupting or tearing it. If the pressure were applied obliquely to the surface, the tendency would be to push the surface strata of lead ahead of the former, thus causing a disrupting and weakening of the plate structure. The angle of pressure should, therefore, to obtain the best results, be such that the lead will not be pushed ahead of the former or rolled out in the direction of reciprocation of the former as it is rocked or oscillated to alternately apply and release the pressure which accomplishes the kneading of the lead. As the formers are oscillated back and forth, they apply pressure to the plate intermittently, each successive rolling action causing tllile plate to assume the finished form gradua y.

As a final act all parts of the ribs. including their front edges and sides, as well as the bottoms of the grooves between the ribs are subjected to pressure. Accordingly the ribs are accurately formed, as are also the other parts of the plate. Moreover the density of the ribs and other parts of the plate is increased, thereby producing av practically nonporous surface. The outer portion of the plate is toughened and strengthened and the particles consolidated.

The spinning process, which has heretofore been employed to produce certain types of battery plates, thereby separating its molecules, and mak ing it more or less porous. Consequently the electrolyte penetrates into the pores and produces an irregular growth, which causes draws and pulls the metal,

buckling the plate.

The advantages of a plate formed by my process are important. First, the growth s uniform on all parts, because the metal 1s dense, and non porous, and furthermore the surface configuration is uniform and regular. Second, the contact areais greater than in spun plates. Third, the ribs can be much more accurately formed than 1n plates produced by spinning or by casting under pressure; fourth, the cross stiffening bars can be placed much nearer together than 1n spun plates for the diameter of the knives is necessarily so great as to produce long sloping sides on the stiffening bars instead of substantially vertical ones as shown in Fig. 5; the increased number of these bars increases the strength and stiffness of the plate without decreasing its contact area. This latter is advantageous because the capacity of the plate varies in proportion to its contact area; fifth, the densifying of the plate increases its strength, and sixth, the conductivity of the plate is increased, as a result of which current is more readily conducted to the terminals of the plate through the core orbody thereof.

In some cases it is advantageous to have the grooves or channels between the ribs extend completely through the plate. This form is especially advantageous for negative plates for it permits a free passage of the electrolyte through the plate. A suitable machine for practising the above described process is shown in the accompanying drawings, Figs. 7 to 11 inclusive and will now be described. Mounted upon a suitable frame or housing a, is a crank shaft 6, driven in any suitable manner, the crank pin I) there of being connected by a pitman b with a crosshead c which is supported to slide to and fro upon Ways (5 upon the frame a. A frame or holder zl having an opening cl therein to receive snugly the blank lead plate 20 is mounted in suitable ways a in the frame and is connected to the crosshead 0 by any suitable means, as by a pin 7 so as to be reciprocated therewith. The holder (5 may also be provided with a handhole (Z by which the holder maybe withdrawn from the machine when disconnected from the crosshead.

In the machine shown in the drawings the blank is subjected simultaneously on opposite sides to the rolling action of two formers. As shown in Figs. 10 and 11 each former is made up of thin blades g separators 9 outside supporting plates and bolts 9 and by which the blades'and separators are firmly bound together between the plates Said blades have curved edges which are notched at intervals at .at q for forming the stiffening bars 23. The intervening separators are shorter than the blades and other deleterious effects upon is of properthickness the lead will be disfrom the shaft 6. The

drawn rapidly and are adapted to contact the tops of the ribs and stiffening bars. Each set of formers is pivotally mounted, as by means of the extended bolt 9 in a block h, movable toward and from the holder (l in suitable ways in the frame a. Each block it is suitably connected, so as to permit the necessary relativemovement, to an eccentric block i mounted on an eccentric formed on a shaft 70 which is supported in suitable bearings in the frame. The shafts 7a are rotated slowly, so as to cause the sets-of formers to approach each other slowly, by any suitable means, as, for example, by worm gearing k shaft k worm gearing 70 shaft 71: and beveled gears 70 formers are oscillated in synchronism with the reciprocations of the blank 6 and for this purpose the two formers may be provided with arms Z which overlap and are connected in the center plane of the plate holder 0?, as at l, with links m which in turn are connected to the reciproeating crosshead 0. I The operation of forming'battery plates or units with the machine described will nowbe readily understood. A blank 0 having been placed in the holder d and the sets of formers having been drawn apart, the holder is slipped into the ways (1 provided therefor in the frame a and is coupled to the reciprocating crosshead 0. Power then beingappliedto the shaft b, the holder d, with'the blank 6, is rec'iprocated and the formers are oscillated in synchroni'sm therewith. At the same time the formers are caused to approach each otherslowly and thus produce a kneading or swaging action which gradually displaces the lead in a direction from the center core of the plate toward the axes of the formers. If the blank placed as described until it comes incontact vwith the edges of the separators 9 so that the fins or webs of the finished plates shall be of uniform height above the center core. The parts of the formers and the eccentrics which cause them to approach each other arepreferably so proportioned, with reference to the thickness of the blank operated upon, that the side plates 9"- reach the surface planes of the holder (Z at the same'time that the displaced lead, forming theribs or webs of the plate, reaches the edges of the separators 1 so that the plate is finished as to its frame 24 simultaneously with the finishing as to the ribs 21. Thus all parts are subjected to the kneading and densifying actionabove described. In order that'the formers may be withafter the completion" of a plate means may be provided for rotating the eccentrics is independently of the driving mechanism, Thus worm gears 70 may be engaged with the' shafts is through roller Gli clutches lndicated at 70 so as to drive the shafts positively I vto be rotated iforwardly with respect to the increased with cure by Letters Patent, is;

but to permit the shafts worm gears, while the opposite ends of the shafts 70 are provided with sprocket wheels n connected by chain n and one of the shafts 7a is provided with a crank H The shafts In,

with their eccentrics may thus begivcn a half rotation simultaneously, as soolras a plate is completed, so as to \vitlulraw, the formers rapidly and permit a new blank to be substituted for the completed plate.

It will be observed that in this machine the direction of .motion is reversed each time the former has completed a stroke. also that the former is continuously approaching a little closer to the plate. This producesthc kneading orswaging actlon referi'ed to, the metal being gradually workedor .wrought and forced up from the core or la uly o'f tlic plate; By the use of segmental formers having relatively large radii, the tendencygof the metal to roll out inadvanceei? the moa ing formers is reduced topractically a negligible amount. The metal is, however worked up between adjacent gradually ;-ta-

peringblades and is compressed graduallywhile (being forced up, until it is reduced to the proper thickness to pass between the parallel sides of two adjacent bladesylhe rib so formed is forced stillfarther between the formers until? it: meets the spacing washer, whereby the edge of the rib is also compressed, the entire rib now having ,ian exterior surface of dense metal, The ribs are so thin that the wedgmg action as the lead is forced up through the tapered ,openings formed by the tapered edges of the blades, will consolidate and increase the density of the ribs practically throughout. The spacing washer, however, insures an additionalrolling for the tops of thejribs and gives the tops their finished form. i As the pressure isexerted simultaneously from both sides the density of'the plate is the attending advantages hereinabove pointed out. ;T he movement of' the plate back and forth between" the gradually approaching formers is accurately controlled in the machine selected for illustration, and iii-consequence the ribs are accurately formed, the projections on the formers always accurately finding the depressions previously made bv them. This is an important consideration for the, ribs are in practice very thin and closetogetheij'for example one forty-eighth ofan inch thick with a space between them of one fortveighth of an inch.

What I claim as new and desire' to sea, -1. A battery plate having a plurality of rows of uniformly formed densificd ribs upon the surface thereof.

2. A battery plate having a plurality, of

rows of uniformly formed ribs formedj upon the surface thereof, the density of said ribs being increased, and reinforcing bars arranged between the rows of llbS, the length of said ribs being comparatively short so that the reinforcing bars occur at comparatively close intervals.

l. Abattery plate having a plurality of rows of uniformly formed ribs formed upon the surface thereof, the density of said ribs being increased, and reinforcing bars arranged be tween the rows of ribs, the length of said ribs being comparatively short so that the rein forcing bars occur at comparatively close intervals, said reinforcing bars and ribs being integral.

r. A battery plate having a plurallty of rows of uniformly formed ribs formed upon the surface thereof, the density of said ribs being increased, and reinforcing bars arranged between the rows of ribs, the length of said ribs being comparatively short so that the reinforcing bars occur at comparatively close intervals, said reinforcing bars and ribs being integral, the configuration being the same upon both sides of the plate.

5. The process of forming a battery plate from a lead blank which consists in applying a rocking pressure simultaneously to the opposite sides of the blank, the pressure being applied at an angle to the blank less than the angle beyond which, if pressure is applied to the blank, the metal of the blank will be displaced in the direction of the r rocking of the pressure-applying means.

6. The process of forming a battery plate from a lead blank which consists in applying a rocking pressure to the blank along a plurality of parallel lines simultaneously, said pressure being applied substantially normal to the surface of the blank whereby the lead of the blank is forced into parallel ribs extending between the lines of pressure and rising above the original surface of the blank. whereby the surface of the plate is consolidated and densified.

7. The. method of forming a ribbed battery plate from a lead blank which consists in applying pressure simultaneously to opposite sides of the blank along a plurality of parallel lines substantially perpendicular to the blank surface to cause the formation of ribs between the lines of pressure and simultaneously compressing the ribs laterally to densify and consolidate them.

8. A battery plate having a surface pr0- vidcd with a plurality of closely adjacent parallel ribs, the entire exposed surface of the ribs being consolidated and densified by pressure limited in force and direction, so that the metal of said ribs is not disrupted.

9. A battery plate having an irregular surface with an outer stratum composed of metal that has been subjected to Work effecting a substantially uniform consolida-.

tion of the particles thereof over the whole of said surface.

10. A battery plate having a corrugated surface produced and consolidated by repeated pressures insuflicient to disrupt the surface material and extending over the whole of said surface.

11. A battery plate having a surface shaped and consolidated throughout by repeated rolling pressures alternately in reverse directions at such angles as to work the-metal without disrupting it.

12. A battery plate having a surface shaped, toughened and consolidated by rolling operations in reverse directions exerting pressures limited in force and direction so that the metal of said surface is not disrupted.

13. A battery plate having a surface provided with closely adjacent parallel ribs, the entire exposed surface of the ribs and the portion of the plate between the ribs having an outer stratum of metal that has been subjected to work, effecting a substantially uniform consolidation of the particles thereof over the whole of said surface.

14. A battery plate having a surface provided with closely adjacent parallel ribs, the entire effective surface thereof being shaped and consolidated throughout by repeated rolling pressures alternately in reverse directions at such angles as to work the metal without disrupting it.

15. A battery plate having a surface formed with closely adjacent parallel ribs which have been formed and the surfaces of which have been consolidated and densified by repeated pressures applied to all portions thereof, insuflicient to disrupt the surface material and extending over the entire exposed surface of the ribs.

16. The herein described process of forming a battery plate, consisting in subjecting a blank to pressure to increase its contact area and to densify the metal.

17. The herein described process of forming a battery plate consisting in kneading a blank to increase its contact area and densify the metal.

18. The herein described process of forming a battery plate, consisting in alternately applying and releasing pressure upon the face of the blank to work the blank into shape.

19. The herein described process of forming a battery plate consisting in simultaneously applying pressure upon opposite sides of a blank to form it into the desired shape.

20. The herein described process of forming a battery plate consisting in subjecting a blank to pressure upon opposite sides simultaneously the pressure being applied to both sides at directly opposite points.

21. The herein described process of form- -j whereby the sired shape: I

1 22; The herein described process of form I ing a battery plate consisting in simultaneously kneading both sides of a blank to 'confi-gurateboth sides of the plate .alike..

of making battery plates 23. The process consisting in subjecting-a blank to a kneading or swagin'g' action'to condense the metal 7 and form the same'into the shape desired.

.' also having a movement 'l the blank to 24;.- The process of makingbattery plates 15.

consisting in subjecting a blank 'to pressure perpendicular to the face "the blank and at. the same time produce con o figurations thereon for increasing its contact area.

simultaneously perplate from both sides and also lIlCIQflSQthQ contact area thereof.

v The herein described. process of form;

lankfis ;worked into the de of the blank and along the face of thereby producea swaging or kneading action, to incre'ase'the density of 'sidestoccupyin'g the v v j in the plate. 25. The processof forming battery platesconsisting in' directing pressure upon said 25 pendic'ular to the face,'and at'the same time passing said a battery plate having ribs arranged side'by side and spaced from each other,

consisting in subjecting to pressure oblong areas'arranged side by side and successively increasing the pressure.

27. The process of making battery plates consisting in'subjecting said plates to a seriesof r0l ling acti onsin continuous contact with a former, vand changing the direction of motion between each two rolling actions. 28. The process of making'battery plates consistingin reciprocating. the plate back i and. forth in a plane and sub ecting the plate to constantly; increasing pressure.

29. The herein described process of forming a battery plate consisting in subjecting a blank of suitable materialto pressure, the;

pressurebeing applied to oblong areas upon both sides of said plate, said areas bemg vspaced apart and; the areas .upon' opposite SitIIlB' relative position In witness vvhereof, I have hereuntosubscribed my name in'the presence of two wit nesses'." v

v FRANK ,ENGEL. Q

'witnessesz I i I ELIZABETH M. .N'Atrrn, ALLAN F. Rum.

. (topics of this patent may be obtained for five eents each,'byj addressing the (lonlinissione'r of Patents, v

Washington, D. O. 

